NEW MALDEN, England, April 23 (UPI) -- British company BAE Systems said Wednesday it has demonstrated air-land integration of UGVs and UAVs in combat.
The company said in a statement that it had demonstrated the operation of several multiple unmanned air and land vehicles directed by different battlefield commanders to gather and transmit relevant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data to combat forces.
BAE Systems said its test showed that two unmanned ground vehicles and two unmanned air vehicles could exchange data and pass it on to their command bases, while being directed by different command systems in real time.
"In this kind of operation, it's critical that the payload -- in this case, vital surveillance and reconnaissance information -- and that the tasking of an unmanned asset is transferred quickly and effectively between commanders on the battlefield," said Andy Wright, capability augmentation manager for BAE Systems.
The exercise was carried out under BAE Systems' Capability Augmentation Program at BAE's new Apex systems integration, visualization and experimentation complex in New Malden, England.
The test utilized systems and software technology from different BAE Systems units such as Aerosystems International, BAE Systems Australia, Integrated System Technologies, Electronic & Information Systems and Military Air Solutions, the company said.
The exercise was the first in a planned series to culminate in a vehicle demonstration at BAE Systems' West Sale test complex in Australia in November, the company said.
BAE Systems said its Capability Augmentation Program was run by its Strategic Capability Solutions group to integrate technology produced by the company in its different operations to extend and develop military capabilities.
